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So I make a post and ask you some questions and you then go in and make a response which deals with something completely different and which ignores the questions which I have asked completely.
I don't see how we can move forward on that basis

Thank you.
First of all, this is not chronology so we don't have any sense of the timeline.
It's still rather complicated – but maybe when you produce a chronology it will come more into focus.
However, there are a few things that we can start to tease out.
You say that you accepted £250 in an offer which was intended to reflect distress. Although you say that you accepted this offer mistakenly, it may well be that you have no further rights on this issue because of course it would have been up to you to understand the situation properly before accepting any kind of financial offer.
However, it would be useful to understand the reach of this offer and so please could you post up the offer letter by uploading it in PDF format.
You say that "high-volume messaging" is not explicitly covered in the terms and conditions – but there may be references to "fair use policy" and it may be an interpretive problem rather than looking for words which specifically match your situation. So it will be helpful to know what words Vodafone were relying upon and also what was the extent of your high-volume messaging. Did they give you any warnings.
You say that they referred to terms and conditions which you did not sign. However, it isn't necessary to sign terms and conditions. We would have to understand more about the context – but generally speaking if there is an agreement which refers to terms and conditions from the outset and you then embark upon the agreement and use the services, then all the signs would be that you've accepted the conditions of use. Signed written terms and conditions are generally speaking only required in contracts for property or copyright or shares.
You say that the contract was put in your sole name despite the fact that the company name was on the agreement. We don't have a chronology so we don't see how long this went on for and you don't explain why you didn't raise any objections to this – or maybe you did?
You say that you have sent Vodafone and Lowell an SAR but "so far" you are waiting for a response. This suggests that you sent the SAR some time ago – but you haven't told us anything about when this might have happened.
You are referring to obligations under the Consumer Rights Act but I'm afraid that these obligations refer to contracts between a trader and a consumer – and you are not trading as a consumer so these probably wouldn't apply to you.
Finally, you are worried about expressing a claim in legal language. If you begin a small claim then you certainly don't need any legal language – and in fact that kind of approach simply gets in the way. Also, it seems to me that you are gearing up to bring a court claim – which is fine, in my book – but you haven't identified your cause or causes of action and you don't have a plan.
I think we need to slow down and have a more careful and methodical look at the situation. Otherwise you're simply going to find yourself in trouble

Late to this, sorry - my wife claims contributory ESA and got her P60 about two weeks ago. Now I know she's overpaid on her tax and I'm just waiting for HMRC (the department I currently work for) to figure it out. They owe her about £150.

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You need to find out if this number is correct. Tax Credits are notorious for making mistakes. Send them a free SAR request, you will be able to check all of their figures.

At the same time start an appeal by filling in TC846 available on gov.uk. On there you need to ask them for details of how these over payments occurred. Once they have written back to you with an explanation and all the hundreds of pages of data they have on you, sometimes there are mistakes big enough to fly a plane through.

For example, I found that they had exaggerated my salary by £6000 and made up a phone call I never made declaring that Salary amount..

It's also worth looking through the Tax Credits COP 26, (Google it) to see if any exemptions apply to you.

Worst comes to worst, then you can start worrying about repayment plans, which won't be anywhere near the ridiculous amounts they are asking for. £50 a month was a figure mentioned for my £12,000 over payment , that I managed to get overturned anyway.

Also another way of paying it off painlessly is making another claim if you are entitled. They will then take the overpayments from the amount they pay you every month, so you will still be ahead !

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

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the other way they make erros is by lumping qualifying payment periods together so for example if you income for the first 6 months of the year was zero and for the second 6 months was a millio they lump it together and decide you got half a million for each bit so you have to repay the money overpaid when you really werent overpaid. It seems as though they have done this to you and I would say that you owe a third less than they claim you do. there is also an allowance fro changes in income that doesnt affect the payment. Again, your overtime may well mean that for some months you dont cross this threshold and they ahve decided the averager is good enough for them

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If your income was lower for say the first 6 months thenj you are entitled to the tax credit. The calculations you provided were honestly done so valid for the period up until your income changed significantly. The payemnt isnt retrospective

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Yes this it how it has been explained, yearly total.. nothing else matters. Anyway a TC846 has already been sent but didn't include any covering letter. Just hoping they don't demand £240 a month to clear it in a year. Many thanks for the advice.

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What A DCA demands is irrelevant, they are completely powerless. They are like my car, makes a lot of noise but goes nowhere ! You do not need to be frightened of them at all!

When the appeal process has been exhausted, and HMRC says you still owe money. Come back to us and I can explain the next step. HMRC are obliged to do an income and expenditure assessment with you, the figure they will come up with is nowhere near the £200 per month you mentioned.

Calling the DCA to make an arrangement is like peeing into the wind, it's pointless and will cost you a lot of money!

We could do with some help from you.

PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS

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Hello again, developments.. After my last post I sent the online SAR and also appealed about the decision. I have had the SAR letter back just confirming wages and National Insurance paid and all seems correct. This morning I have had a letter from LCS/ First Now asking for the amount and to only deal with them. We still have not heard any about the appeal decision. So.. do I ignore this? The letter states if I do the debt will be passed onto a DCA. I would be very grateful for some advice please. Many thanks.

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Just a post to update the thread in case anybody is in a similar situation. The appeal failed and the we are required to pay the £2800 back. The debt has been passed to Pastdue who want the payment in full. HMRC no longer wants to deal with it so probably best to put on a credit card.

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Just a post to update the thread in case anybody is in a similar situation. The appeal failed and the we are required to pay the £2800 back. The debt has been passed to Pastdue who want the payment in full. HMRC no longer wants to deal with it so probably best to put on a credit card.

Ignore Pastdue. Make an arrangement with Tax Credits / HMRC, for a monthly arrangement. I was told around £50 per month when I thought I would have to pay them back.

Past Due are a powerless DCA who need to be ignored. Please do not go and get yourself in Credit Card Debt

Please see the link below to COP 26, Tax Credits own code of practice. Page 11 is of particular interest to you. You can mention this if they refuse to help you. You may need to send them an income and expenditure sheet.

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Thank you for the advice London1971, unfortunately the link doesn't work. I have found other archived COP 26 pdf's but the other page 11's don't seem relevant to this, could you tell me what I'm looking for please. many thanks.